Enhance Your Website for Success in 2023: Strategies and Tips for Small Business Owners
I hate to throw out the scary sentence right out of the gate, but I take your business health seriously so why not start out with keepin’ it real for 2023, right?
Now most of us here–we have websites, we use them to sell things. We use them to connect with our audience. And we use them to build brands that people love to engage with. They are pretty great, most of the time. But read those sentences again and let it sink in a bit.
Day in and day out we are relying on our website to do a ton of things.
To introduce our brand, intro the sale, engage with a customer, show off our expertise, convert the sale, and encourage people to like and trust us. Along with rank on Google to reach the right folks, not be ugly or weirdly hard to read on a mobile phone and also sound like a human wrote the content.
Mayyybe there’s a blog if you’re industrious?
That is so. much. stuff.
And for a website to be that big of a workhorse for your business and brand it has to be good. Really good. Not something that your brother Ted did on his weekend home from college as a favor to you so you’ll stop texting him. And not something your business partner swore they were REALLY good at, that took them six months to launch haphazardly.
This website you have needs to be amazing and in 2023- it needs to be something that is recession proof. Just in case.
We all know that consumers are changing their buying habits along with the way that they choose to spend their money and their time online. Now, whether that's because a recession is coming in or whether that's just a change in the winds of time, I can’t say.
And honestly?
It doesn't really matter.
What does matter is that in order to stay relevant online your focus needs to be on keeping your website fresh, current and laser focused on the customers you serve and the problems you solve.
Let’s hop into some tips and strategies to keep top of mind as you enter this ever popular season of the January Website Spruce Up.
P.S.- Clearly this is not a holiday, but I just invented it because no one–NO ONE–loves a good fresh year reset like the small business owner gals. I would know seeing as how I’m all in on the January feelings right alongside you. LOVE THEM.)
Small Business Tip #1: Reboot An Aging Website
Have you had your website design live in the world for 2+ years? Let’s all pause and think back to 2020/2021. We’ve all been through a time, haven’t we? If you haven’t touched it since we were in the wiping down our groceries phase–your website is probably extremely out of sync with the times. The good news is it may just need a little jazzing up and you’ll be good to go. Or it may need a total overhaul depending on how strong it was to begin with but it definitely needs some love and attention.
Bare minimum, YOU’VE changed as a business owner. You are way more of an expert with way more experience than you had back then. Make sure your website shows that off and does it well.
Small Business Tip #2: Harness the Power of Social Proof
Let’s say it again for the people in the back: social proof matters. It matters now more than ever. There's so much noise and so many people vying for the attention of everyone and their Mother online. If someone is willing to give you their hard earned dollars–especially someone who's never met you in real life–they want to know that you are amazing.
They want to know that you're kind. They want to know that you can deliver them the results that they are looking for. They want to know that you didn’t set up shop last week with a template and whisper of an idea. And this all is where social proof (a.k.a. testimonials and feedback) comes into play.
Social proof is something that you cannot manufacture with A.I or whatever hot take is next in line to “save you” as a business owner. Put in the work, crank out a quick survey and wait for the people to tell you their thoughts about you. 9 times out of 10 you’ll be blushing over the results that pour in.
Testimonials will pay for themselves over and over again. It’s the client gift that keeps on giving long after they’ve paid their invoice. If you have a full copy bank of testimonials, feedback, and general love letters in your inbox from your clients–you’re in great shape. Simply start sharing them strategically on your site.
And please, please don't make a page in the nav that says testimonials. Sprinkle them around organically put them where people are primed to buy– don’t relegate them to the proverbial internet closet on a page that someone may or may not see.
Small Business Tip #3: Overcome the Pitfalls of Online Courses
If you sell in the digital space, chances are that you have attended a webinar or an online course. Something out there that required you to plop down your card and sign up for something in hopes that you would learn something or level up a skill you already have. And hopefully 7 out of 10 times that paid off for you but unfortunately, a lot of people jump the shark in digital product land.
They got on the “Let's make a course and make a lot of money”– bandwagon and didn't really put a lot of thought into follow through. The course wasn't worth it. It didn't teach you what it promised. It was poorly organized, the list goes on. So because of these things, you need to make sure that your website and your digital experience for the user is top notch.
Here at Anchorlight Creative we are obsessed with the details. In real life this means that I am the person who lays in bed at night thinking about workflows and optimizations for fun.
What happens when someone first emails me?
What happens after two days in the lead pipeline?
What happens after they're a new client?
How do we welcome them?
How clear is everything?
Do they feel supported?
The list is about three pages long so I won’t bore you with the details, but if you assumed it’s long, you’d be correct.
It may be over the top to some but to us it's critical to ensure that that client experience exceeds what they're expecting. And maybe the only silver lining here is that unfortunately a lot of people deliver a really shitty experience.
The bar is set pretty low.
But despite that fact, we want to make sure that we knock it out of the park with our client experience and a website is a great way to start off that relationship and show what you can do from the get go. Wow them. Be awesome and get into those details without losing the hook. It’s a part balance and part art, but it’s possible.
Small Business Tip #4: Conduct Basic Keyword Research for Better Rankings
Improving your website in 2023 also means that if your website is something that you set up once and you never touched again– oooo lady–we’re going to have some work to do. Look, I get it. You're busy. I’m writing a blog post at 9:45 PM, I know there are not enough hours. I’m very aware.
However, if you want your website to rank, you can't just rely on a hope and a prayer that what you have out there is what people need is what people are actually searching for out in the wild. You need to know definitively through keyword research that the things on your site relate to the things people are searching for in real life.
That's what a solid foundation of SEO basics can do for you. And that's something that your brother Ted probably didn't think of when he set up your website.
There a ton of free tools for this and plugins that will help you on your keyword journey–Keywords Everywhere is a great one for Chrome and there’s also the well known Ubersuggest for beginners. If you want a more robust keyword and SEO research jumping off point, let us know and we’ll steer you in the right direction!
Small Business Tip #5: Design & Aesthetics: The Key to Building Trust
59% of people prefer browsing “beautiful and well-designed” sites than basic ones according to Adobe. What does this mean for you? Design is a huge part of establishing trust and authority. It's not enough to have a site that's black and white with haphazard buttons and random text–Comic Sans, I’m looking at you. We want to know who you are and design + color is an extremely powerful tool for setting the tone and encouraging people to buy.
How does it work? Lots of ways! There's a reason call to action buttons are usually not black and tiny. They're bright colors to encourage action and clicking. Color can exude professionalism, or fun and playful energy. It’s what makes your website belong to you-not the gal down the street.
Without design you have a business. But bundle together color, styling, a logo and voice in your copy? Then you have a BRAND. And that’s precisely what you’re aiming for.
Small Business Tip #6: Craft a Site Strategy for Consistent Success
Look, just having a website period is an accomplishment. It’s something you should be proud of no matter what. However, if it’s not getting you clients and landing you the money you need, then it’s probably missing something and that something is probably a solid marketing strategy. We are not in the business of basics here-we’re in the business of, well, business and we want a site that converts and works its’ butt off for you 24/7.
The basics are fine, we have the basics already covered. Phase two of your website is crafting a marketing strategy to help you make consistent money from your products or services. It’s more than just pulling together the tips we have here–it’s comprehensive. It’s custom fit to you and your goals. And we LOVE doing them.
At the end of the day we are all here to make money. We own businesses, not charity organizations. And because of that we need to encourage people to purchase from us with strategic copywriting, smart layouts and design and thought that goes into the entire process from start to finish that our audience will take on our site.
So while I’m not here to dive into where your money mindset is at, I am here to tell you that a strategy is what you need to build a map to the profits you deserve. It makes all the difference.
Small Business Tip #7: Copywriting that Connects: Bringing Your Words to Life
Fun fact: Once upon a time when I was 12, I told my teacher I wanted to be an author. I started (but never finished) no less than three novels. Somehow I think I still got that wish as I type up this post. But all that to say, we’ll wrap things up here with one of my favorite things to nerd out on: words! Specifically, Copywriting.
Copywriting is an essential ingredient to optimizing your site because all the keywords in the world won’t matter when people land on your site and sounds like an unfriendly robot full of jargon. It is the only thing that encourages action (read: buying) above everything else. It’s what moves people down the page.
And unfortunately for a lot of us, myself included, we all turn into cardboard boxes when we start writing on our computers. I have to still work really hard against the tendency to sound weird. Unauthentic. Too technical and dry. It takes persistence, awareness, a plan and a LOT of drafts. You never publish the first version right?! Oh the horror.
But in all seriousness-let your actual personality come through on your website. Do not let it be hidden, silenced, shoved in the back of a closet like those clothes that fell off hangers that no one ever touches, never to be seen again.
We want your copywriting to be REAL. And in order to do that, you have to use the voice that you use in real life. It’s is the only thing that will help you stand out from your competition. No algorithm or FB ad can help you the way that real copy that people actually want to read can.
Owning a business is hard, but it gets easier with a plan.
If you’re already maxed out and spinning all the plates in the air and this list just makes you want to go lay down and take a nap–I get it. We built our Compass Framework for precisely this reason. Over the course of 10 years, we’ve identified three things that always, always move the needle for our clients and they combine everything we’ve listed above.
But if you’re used to the hard work and love the accomplishment of a good DIY, you’re in good company too. We know you have experience, stories for days and opinions that need to be heard. Add that together with the rest of this list and you’re well on your way to an amazing website that will see you through 2023 and beyond–no matter what it throws your way.
